Posts Tagged ‘Will Ferrell’

November 16, 2015 · 9:24 AM ET

ALL BALL NERVE CENTER — One of the great sketches in “Saturday Night Live” history came a few years ago, when Christopher Walken was guest-hosting. In this skit, Walken played music producer “THE Bruce Dickinson,” and during a session with the band Blue Oyster Cult, he kept requesting “More cowbell!” from Gene, one of the band members, played by Will Ferrell. (As I’m writing about the skit, I realize it’s probably funnier and makes more sense if you just go watch the original skit here.)

Anyway, here’s the Dallas Mavericks’ version of that sketch, with Dirk Nowitzki as Bruce Dickinson and, well, all the members of the Mavs as Gene. I gotta have more cowbell!

January 22, 2015 · 9:05 AM ET

ALL BALL NERVE CENTER — We know Will Ferrell is an NBA fan — see the video above from last year where I talked basketball with Ferrell and his Anchorman 2 co-stars. And we’ve also seen him through the years at NBA games in cities where he’s filming movies.

So it wasn’t a surprise that Ferrell turned up at last night’s Lakers/Pelicans game in New Orleans, where he’s in town with co-star Mark Wahlbergfilming the movie Daddy’s Home. But what was a surprise was at halftime, when Ferrell came onto the court and filmed a scene where he pegs a cheerleader in the face with a basketball and then gets carried off the floor by fake security guards. IN THE FAAAACE…

Will Ferrell being led out of the Smoothie King Center by security at halftime of the Pelicans/Lakers game. pic.twitter.com/AaOTEL8716

December 18, 2013 · 10:49 AM ET

ALL BALL TALK SHOW — I can not accurately estimate how many times I’ve seen the movie Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy. I saw it in the theater when it originally came out, and while I enjoyed it then, it’s been in re-watching the movie dozens of times since that I have come to truly appreciate it. The plot is ridiculous, of course, but the plot is just there to provide a loose structure for the even more ridiculous characters to goof around. The original movie was so packed full of quotable lines (“I’m kind of a big deal”), non-sequiturs (“Great Odin’s Raven!”) and bizarre character names (Dr. Chim Richalds) that over time, it basically worked its way into popular culture for keeps.

So when I got invited to check out an advance screening of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, I couldn’t say no. I was worried it wouldn’t live up to the first one, but two minutes in it was evident that the second was picking up where the first left off. I loved the sequel, and had even more fun the next day when I had the chance to sit down with the stars of the film — Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carrell, David Koechner, Meagan Good, James Marsden and, yep, Baxter the dog — to chat about Anchorman 2, as well as to talk a little basketball.–

March 22, 2012 · 9:10 PM ET

by Micah Hart

In the midst of a rebuild after dealing Chris Paul before the season, the Hornets have had to dip into the bag of tricks to make things interesting at New Orleans Arena. One thing they’ve hit upon with success has been celebrity emcees, first with Will Ferrell, and now with Samuel L. Jackson, who did the duties before tonight’s Clippers-Hornets game:

A few things to note:

1. Jackson is a funny guy, but he’s no Ferrell. They made a smart decision not having him try to replicate the “fun fact about each player” aspect from Ferrell’s intros.

2. I did enjoy Jackson working in his famous lines from Pulp Fiction, but seems to me he missed an opportunity when introducing Paul, who some fans may not have forgiven for leaving the city. I know Dave Chappelle agrees with me.

3. Having said that, I did think it was funny Jackson referenced Paul as “used to be #1 in your hearts, he’s still #3 in your program.” Paul actually received a pretty warm reception from the crowd — much nicer than many players who chose to leave a team for greener pastures. Maybe Hornets fans realize being a Clipper may end up being no picnic.

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February 10, 2012 · 12:08 PM ET

by Micah Hart

Facebook has the power to harness public sentiment and turn it into action. We’ve seen it before with Betty White and Saturday Night Live, and many attribute the recent Planned Parenthood reversal by the Komen Foundation to people’s reaction to it on the Social Network.

February 8, 2012 · 11:32 PM ET

by Micah Hart

Hot off doing a Super Bowl beer commercial that ran only in North Platte, Nebraska, Will Ferrell decided to continue his string of bizarre but funny choices by doing a little PA work at Wednesday night’s Hornets-Bulls game:

Sadly this was pretty much the highlight of the night for the Hornets, who got blown out 90-67 by the East-leading Bulls.
I tell you what though — I’d go to a lot more Hornets games if Ferrell introduced them every night (or if I lived in New Orleans).

UPDATE: He did the Bulls too:

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